Too Late Again
by batman008
Summary: Sirius’s story of what happened on Halloween night all those years ago. Standalone, but ties in to “Too Late”. Warnings and stuff inside. R&R, plz!


Too Late Again

A Harry Potter fan fiction by Lana Mush

Warnings: Character Death, a little angst, a little James/Sirius FRIENDSHIP fluff

Rating: PG-13 for violence and character death

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise. If I did, Sirius, Tonks, and Lupin wouldn't have died, and Snape would have died earlier. XP

Info: HEY! This is kind of standalone, but reading "Too Late" will help understand some parts. And YES, I know I can't do Hagrid's speech right.

Summary: Sirius's story of what happened on Halloween night all those years ago. Standalone, but ties in to "Too Late"

Sirius pulled off his dark leather jacket as he walked into the messy flat. He had just come back from Moony's Halloween party, and he was exhausted. He had been named official Harry-babysitter for the entire party so that James and Lily could have a break. It wasn't that Sirius had minded, it was just that Harry was the wildest little boy in the entire world! He was crawling now, and was always all over the place. He also saw his "Uncle Remus" as a personal jungle gym.

As Sirius walked into his bedroom, he ran his fingers through his long, dark hair and put his wand next to the photograph of Dorcas on his nightstand. It had been over a year since her death, but he still couldn't bear to move the picture.

He had just gotten settled in with the _Daily Prophet_ and a mug of butter-beer when he heard a soft _tap-tap-tap_ on his window. He looked over to see James's trusty owl, Snitch, tapping frantically at the windowpane. Sirius hurried over and opened the window, only to have Snitch rush inside, twittering madly and sticking out his leg, which had a small note tied to it. Sirius took the note and opened it quickly, wondering what was going on. There was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but Sirius ignored it and read the note. There were only two words in a quickly written, untidy scrawl:

_Peter told._

Sirius's eyes widened as he rushed out, put on his jacket, mounted his motorbike, and kicked off. The motorcycle roared in the sky and began to sputter as he neared Godric's Hollow. He cursed under his breath as he realized that he hadn't gotten any gas the other night. He heard a scream as he touched down and ran toward the house, which was already surrounded by civilians and Aurors. A few of them he knew. Rubeus Hagrid was there, as well as some of the Wizarding Law Enforcement. He once again saw the Dark Mark that he had seen a year ago, the same one that haunted all of his dreams. He began screaming "_no, no, NO!" _in his mind as he ran toward the home. The Aurors tried to hold him back but he pushed past them and ran through the door.

He choked back a sob as he saw his best friend lying there, dead on the floor. He knelt by him and fixed the glasses on his face so they were sitting on both ears as they had been before. He remembered James's last words to him, at the party, _Padfoot, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to look after Harry. You're the best Godfather that anyone could ask for._

"Pad!" he heard a squeal from the next room. Sirius let out a bit of breath in relief. At least Harry was all right. He walked toward the other room, a tear flowing down his cheek as he did. He wiped it away and walked into Harry's room. Harry smiled and squealed louder as Sirius walked toward him, a faux smile on his face. He shuddered as he walked by Lily's lifeless body. He wanted to go to her, but he was afraid of scaring Harry, so he picked Harry up out of his crib and carried him outside. Hagrid saw Sirius and ran toward him.

"Sirius, yer okay, are ya?" Hagrid asked with a solemn look on his face. Sirius could only nod. He didn't feel like speaking.

Hagrid continued, "Look, I'm suppos'd ter take 'Arry,"

Sirius forgot about not being able to talk, "No! I can take care of him, Hagrid! Please, let him come with me."

Hagrid just shook his head and patted Sirius's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Sirius, it's Dumbledore's orders. If I could let yer take 'im, I would." He took Harry from Sirius's arms.

Harry started to whimper, "Pa-ad! Paddy!" It was only then that Sirius noticed the cut on Harry's head. It was in a crooked shape, almost like a lightning bolt. Sirius stroked the forehead with his index finger.

"You can take my motorcycle," Sirius said. "I'm not going to need it anymore."

Hagrid frowned. The motorbike was Sirius's most prized possession. There was obviously something very wrong with the young man, but Hagrid decided not to mention it. Instead, he patted Sirius's shoulder, told him it would be alright, got on the motorcycle, and left, Harry screaming for his "Pad," the whole way.

Sirius began to once again walk toward the house, trying to avoid the Dark Mark with his eyes at all costs. He stared at the house for a few moments, and then saw someone skulking away out of the corner of his eye. He spun around, only to see Peter.

0-0-0-0

"You lying, filthy, traitor!" Sirius whispered, a malicious look in his gray eyes. He had a way of making them look colder than Lucius's. Peter flinched, but drew his wand. Sirius did the same, and soon they were ready to duel. Around thirteen muggles had gathered around, some of them giggling as they wondered why two grown men were pointing wooden sticks at each other.

"Sirius…why would you do such a thing?" Peter asked, acting as though he was about to cry. "James and Lily trusted you with their lives, and you…you betrayed them!"

Sirius had never been angrier in his life. To have Peter stand there and lie was like nothing he had ever felt before. Peter smirked, just a tiny smile as he flipped his wand around. Just as Sirius was about to disarm him, Peter was gone. He disappeared, leaving only a mouse and a finger. At the same time, the entire street behind Peter-the-Mouse exploded, killing all thirteen muggles who had been gathered around. The mouse seemed to look at Sirius before he scurried off.

Sirius stood there, dumbfounded, as the Aurors gathered around him and tried to carry him off. As they dragged him along the street, Sirius could do nothing but laugh. Peter may have been a rat, but he was a clever one.

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So? How did you guys like it? Better than the first, no? Oh! On a side note, I would like to know how many of you fellow writers out there DESPISE Microsoft Word's little red line thingy. I don't want to turn it off, because it helps sometimes, but it thinks that EVERYTHING is spelled wrong! In addition, it won't let you do contractions. Anyway, thank you SO MUCH, campanula1979, for my VERY FIRST REVIEW! I was going to redo that story anyway, because it is so short, but I wasn't sure how to do it. So, I am going to try your idea, with a long flashback and then a little of the actual story for each chapter. Thanks so much! I feel so awesome for getting a review.

Luv ya!

-Lana


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